Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week – December 4th

The Houston Rockets may be the scariest team in the Association right now. They’ve won seven in a row and nine of ten, and they sit atop the Western Conference, a game ahead of Golden State. They have an electric offense but — more importantly — have committed to ironclad defense, a commitment that they have never really made in the past. That’s what has them a few steps ahead of Golden State and San Antonio. The surprising Denver Nuggets sit at 13-9 and look like they may have staying power in a tough West. In the East, Boston remains atop the standings with a 20-4 record, but the Cleveland Cavaliers have put up an eleven-game winning streak to move to 16-7, second in the conference. LeBron James has stepped into the wayback machine and is scoring points at an incredible pace. Can he keep it up, though? Let’s take a look at some of your best NBA betting picks for this week.

Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week – December 4th

There’s a new No.1 in our NBA power rankings: https://t.co/Djeff7vLOe

— ESPN (@espn) December 4, 2017

Tuesday, December 5

Utah at Oklahoma City (8:00pm ET, ROOT / FSOK)

We have two teams in similar positions as Utah sits at 12-10 and the Thunder come in at 10-11. Utah is red-hot, though, winners of five in a row, including a 19-point rout of the Clippers on the road and a six-point win over New Orleans. Shooting guard Donovan Mitchell was the story of the night for the Jazz in this last win, posting 41 points, setting a Jazz rookie record, and putting up 17 points in the fourth quarter. They face a Thunder team that had dropped three in a row and five of six but since have picked up impressive home wins over Minnesota and San Antonio. Could the Carmelo Anthony signing finally be paying off? NBA Betting Prediction: Oklahoma City 108, Utah 103

Wednesday, December 6

Dallas at Boston (7:30pm ET, FSSW / CSNN)

Dallas has won four of their last seven, which is not anything to write home about but is a significant improvement over how they started their season. Their wins in that stretch have come against Milwaukee, Memphis, Oklahoma City and the Clippers. In that win over the Clippers on Saturday, J.J. Barea led the way with 21 points. Barea has worked on a point guard-by-committee approach that is working rookie Dennis Smith Jr. into a place where he can take over the offense and run it by himself. In the meantime, though, Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews are coming into their own on offense, and the Mavericks’ defense is improving as well. The Mavericks visit a Boston team that fell to Detroit by ten at home but has won two straight since, knocking off Philadelphia and Phoenix. While Kyrie Irving is still the big story in Boston so far, the emergence of rookie Jayson Tatum in crunch time makes the Celtics even scarier, particularly in crunch time when opponents will look to deny Irving the ball. NBA Betting Prediction: Boston 110, Dallas 98

Thursday, December 7

L.A. Lakers at Philadelphia (8:00pm ET, TNT)

These aren’t the same Lakers who toiled through a tough schedule last year. However, early predictions that Showtime would return to the playoffs appear to be premature. The Lakers have lost five in a row, losing to the Kings, Clippers, Warriors, Nuggets and Rockets. At least three of those teams have vastly superior talent to the Lakers at this point. However, things don’t get any easier when they face the Sixers on the road on Thursday night. Philadelphia center Joel Embiid continues to grow as an on-court presence; in the Sixers’ win over Detroit, Embiid made a cause of fouling Pistons center Andre Drummond out of the game and then waved good-bye as his counterpart left. Along with Ben Simmons, Embiid makes this Sixers team fun to watch. The Sixers have lost two of four, falling to Cleveland and Boston, but they are still well on their way to a postseason berth. NBA Betting Prediction: Philadelphia 106, L.A. Lakers 97